Certain structures used in aircraft, such as, without limitation, wings, horizontal and vertical stabilizers, fins and the like may be formed from panels designed to meet or exceed specified design loads along the length of the panel. In order to tailor the design load along the length of a wing panel, structural features of the panel may be varied from the root to the tip of the wing. For example, in the case of a panel construction having a corrugated web sandwiched between two skins, it may be possible to continuously vary certain characteristics of the corrugated web, such as the thickness, amplitude, or wavelength of the web along its length to achieve the desired load tailoring.
Existing techniques for forming corrugated webs are limited to producing webs having a substantially uniform cross section over the length of the web. A problem therefore exists in forming a corrugated web having a shape that varies continuously along a length sufficient for use in a wing panel
Accordingly, there is a need for a method and apparatus for forming corrugated webs having a shape that continuously varies along the length of the web. There is also a need for a method and apparatus for producing such corrugated webs in a substantially continuous process.